After Race 11: Hungary

Eleven races into the 2014 season and the mid-season shutdown is upon us after the Hungaroring provided us with a thrilling weekend to close the first half of the season. Mercedes will be relishing the upcoming legendary power tracks of Spa-Francorchamps and Monza before we head off for the flyaway races (let’s just hope there’s no brake-by-wire failures).

Who said you can't overtake in Hungary? Top three started 4th, 5th and pit-lane
Source: Red Bull Racing (Facebook)

1. Daniel Ricciardo (up one spot)

Simply no other choice for top spot this week. The smiling Aussie once again thrived amidst the chaos to take his second win of the season. Curious stat: both of his victories have come in 70-lap races, with the race-winning overtake executed on lap 68.

Take your pic (no pun intended) from the one million smiling Aussie photos
Source: Red Bull Racing (Facebook)

=2. Nico Rosberg & Lewis Hamilton (no change)

It was a case of déjà-vu on Saturday as Hamilton once again saw his hopes go up in smoke (this time quite literally) while Rosberg cruised to pole. Sunday was a different story as Rosberg struggled in the tricky conditions. Yes, the first SC hurt him but the fact he ended up behind Fernando Alonso at the checkered flag shows that it was more than just that.

Hamilton recovered from a ragged opening lap to storm his way through the pack and, critically, disobeyed team orders to aid his eventual podium finish. Eleven points separate the rivals as we head into the summer break.

4. Jules Bianchi (up two spots)

Another magnificent weekend for the Nice native. Casually knocked out Kimi Raikkonen in Q1 (and out of his 2015 seat?) before he once again won the backmarker-battle, despite being hit and damaged by Pastor Maldonado in the early stages.

Bianchi has consistently impressed in his Marussia
Source: Marussia F1 Team (Facebook)

=5. Daniil Kvyat (down one spot) & Valtteri Bottas (no change)

Incredibly, fifth is the lowest that Kvyat has been in the rankings this season – such has been his stunning form in his maiden season. A rookie error saw him throw away an easy Q3 spot before his engine stalled on the grid. He had a largely anonymous race thereafter.

Bottas was the big loser during the first SC as he dropped from P2 to outside the top ten. Adopting the same strategy as Rosberg, he just couldn’t get past Vettel at the end and wound up P8.

7. Fernando Alonso (up four spots)

So close yet so far for Alonso. It was a terrific drive by the crafty Spaniard who made the most of the inclement conditions to almost clinch an opportunistic victory.

The race was just three laps too long for Alonso, after a stunning performance
Source: Red Bull Racing (Facebook)

8. Sebastian Vettel (up two spots)

Whether by luck or by judgement (or a bit of both), Vettel avoided ending his race in the same spectacular fashion as Checo Pérez. He was mugged by Alonso on the first restart and their respective trajectories continued in such fashion with the German just about fending off Bottas for P7.

9. Nico Hulkenberg (down two spots)

The Hulk saw his 100% points-scoring record come to an end in a rather ignominious fashion as he collided with his team-mate in the last corner.

The Force India duo got a little bit too close to each other
Source: Sahara Force India (Facebook)

10. Jenson Button & 11. Kevin Magnussen (down two spots each)

A strategy gaffe by the pit-wall ended any hopes JB had of a strong result while K-Mag had a more solid race as he recovered from his qualifying shunt.

12. Jean-Éric Vergne (up three spots)

JEV stole the show in the first half of the race as he mixed it with the big boys in the tricky conditions, running comfortably in P2. An eventual finish of ninth reflected the maximum possible in dry conditions with the STR but it was a timely reminder of his talent as we head into the contract-stage of the season.

Vergne held his own in P2 in the first half of the race
Source: F1.com

13. Felipe Massa (up one spot)

Frustrated by a traffic-affected lap in Q3, the irony was that he benefited from this during the first SC pit-stops as he ended up P2 when it all shook out. His final pit-stop came rather early and cost him a shot at the podium. Still, at least Felipe made it to the second lap of the race for the first time in three races.

Massa reached the second lap for the first time since Austria
Source: Williams F1 Team

14. Romain Grosjean (down two spots)

The less said, the better. Lotus have no momentum at the moment and a frustrated Grosjean could not believe that even Sutil was quicker than him in qualifying. His race ended with an embarrassing spin under the SC.

15. Kimi Räikkönen (up three spots)

Saturday afternoon was Raikkonen’s nadir this season: knocked out in a bone-dry Q1 session by a Marussia. However, he recovered on Sunday to record a season’s-best sixth-place finish – although he’s still being whitewashed in the race-result battle by Alonso.

16. Sergio Pérez (down three spots)

Checo’s crash capped off a miserable race for Force India. Both cars were set for points before their two drivers made catastrophic mistakes.

Source: Getty Images

17. Pastor Maldonado (no change)

A non-existent qualifying was followed up by a rather underwhelming race; a tangle with Bianchi being the low-point.

Watch out, Jules...
Source: Marussia F1 Team (Facebook)

18. Kamui Kobayashi (down two spots)

Once again outshone by Bianchi in the backmarker battle and Caterham need a miracle to overhaul their rivals. Reliability is also a concern.

The bottom four

For the second time this season (Canada), it’s proved too difficult to separate the hapless quartet that prop up the F1 Power Rankings. Max Chilton suffered from technical problems in quali but was thrashed by an ailing Bianchi in the race while Marcus Ericsson slammed his Caterham hard into the Turn 4 wall to bring out the SC.

Sauber had a relatively good Saturday but Sunday was another case of ‘what might have been’ as Esteban Gutiérrez retired with ERS problems while running in the top eight and Adrian Sutil could only muster P11. With Mexico set to return to the calendar next season, Stevie G is likely to continue into 2015 but you’d have to think/hope that Simona de Silvestro or Giedo van der Garde will occupy the other Sauber.

All views expressed in this blog are my own and no copyright infringement is intended.